AISD Wants Public Input in the Search for Superintendent Carstarphen's Replacement

AISD hopes former Superintendent Meria Carstarphen's replacement will be selected with the help of public input.

Nathan Bernier
/ KUT

Leaders in the Austin Independent School District want to know what kind of leader they should hire to run the 86,000 student school district and they're asking for the public's input. The district is holding a series of public input meetings this week starting Tuesday. The forums are part of the school board’s plan to have a more open search process. When the district hired former Superintendent Meria Carstarphen in 2009, she was unveiled as the sole finalist. The move upset some people in the community who thought the process lacked transparency.

This time, the district will initially interview candidates in a closed search. After it identifies two to four finalists, it will introduce them to the public. Community groups, parents and stakeholders will then have a chance to provide feedback on the finalists. But before all that happens, the district wants to hear from the community about what kind of finalists they should be looking for in the first place so it can create a profile once it starts accepting applicants.

“If at any point in time either through the website, surveys, or meetings we’re having, if you have input, we want to hear from you," said Vincent Torres, AISD School Board President. "We want this to be a process the community is comfortable with and if you’re not, we would like to know why and address those concerns.”

The district will host daytime forums Tuesday, July 15 through Thursday, July 17 at the Baker Center, 3908 Avenue B, from noon–1:30 p.m.

Evening forums will be hosted simultaneously from 6:30–8 p.m. at the following schools:

Travis High School, 1211 E. Oltorf St.; will include a Spanish presentation

Wednesday, July 16

Crockett High School, 5601 Manchaca Road

Eastside Memorial High School, 1012 Arthur Stiles Road; will include a Spanish presentation

Lanier High School, 1201 Payton Gin Road

McCallum High School, 5600 Sunshine Drive

Thursday, July 17

Akins High School, 10701 S. First St.; will include a Spanish presentation

Anderson High School, 8403 Mesa Drive

Austin High School, 1715 W. Cesar Chavez St.

LBJ Early College High School, 7309 Lazy Creek Drive

The new, more open approach isn't surprising. Since the school board welcomed four new members two years ago, community engagement has been the focus. But some people were concerned the open process might deter qualified candidates from applying because it could cause issues in their current school district.

Ken Zarifis, who heads the local teachers union, Education Austin, isn’t one of those people. He says candidates who are open to this kind of search process are the kinds of people who will fit in with the community:

“We want transparency," Zarifis says. "We want process and we want persons to actually work with our community and you can’t do that behind closed doors. It has to be open. So someone who wouldn’t want to be part of that process isn’t someone who will work well with Austin ultimately.”

The district has hired a private company, Ray and Associates, to help with the search. School board members say they'd like to identify one person by October or November so they will be on board during the next legislative session.

But that time frame also coincides with the next round of school board elections. While the current school board will most likely identify the final candidate, the school board that officially hires that person could be very different. Five seats are up for election this fall and three current school board members have already said they will not run for re-election.

In December 2013, on the eve of what would be Carstarphen's final State of the District address, KUT looked back at her time leading AISD.

Original story (Dec. 3, 2013): Austin ISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen’s releases her 2013 State of the District today – a movie where the superintendent highlights the district’s achievements and challenges over the past year.

It’s Carstarphen’s fifth State of the District since she became superintendent in 2009.

Austin has its own convoluted history when it comes to school integration – one involving multiple federal lawsuits and many different strategies to desegregate schools.

Busing was one of those strategies. Many students were bused across the city to schools on the other side of town. West Austin residents went to East Austin schools and visa versa.

Saturday, May 17, marks 60 years since the Supreme Court struck down the concept of "separate but equal" in Brown v. Board of Education. It's a decision that affected students across the country. But for two Austin teenagers in the late 1980s, it also sparked a life-long friendship.

If you think about it, it’s a miracle Richard Reddick and Ryan Scarborough ever met. Scarborough, a white student from Austin’s Northwest Hills neighborhood, was bused to Johnston High School on Austin's east side, starting in 1986.

East Austin resident Archette Alexander remembers when she took her son out of the neighborhood public elementary school and put him in a charter school. She says teachers had lost their passion due to all of the testing.

Now, Alexander’s youngest daughter is three, and she’s interested in putting her back in the school district – at AISD's early childhood center.

“The passion the other teachers have gives me hope as a parent that kids can thrive here,” Alexander says.